


It Ain't Me

by nurselaney



Series: The Cactus Tree [2]
Category: Hardy Boys - Franklin W. Dixon, Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries (TV), Nancy Drew - Carolyn Keene, Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys Super Mysteries - Franklin W. Dixon & Carolyn Keene
Genre: 1970's, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Vietnam, Multi, Pre-Threesome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-11
Updated: 2016-07-11
Packaged: 2018-07-22 23:06:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7457298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nurselaney/pseuds/nurselaney
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It’s funny how a piece of paper can make your world fall to pieces in less than ten seconds.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It’s funny how a piece of paper can make your world fall to pieces in less than ten seconds.

      Ned would probably laugh until he cried if he wasn’t so damn angry and scared. He hadn’t done anything to deserve this, but then neither had Buck Rodman and he’d been drafted straight out of high school. Buck had only been in Nam for three months before he’d stepped on a landmine and bought himself a closed casket funeral and a 21-gun salute.

      He calls Nancy, asks her to meet him. She says she can’t make it until later in the afternoon. That’s fine he tells her, although he feels like every nerve in his body is a live wire, and either he’s gonna tell her or he’s gonna combust. He hangs up before he can give the news over the phone.

     He runs until his lungs are bursting and his muscles scream and then he runs back to his dormitory and showers and puts on clean clothes.

* * *

      He walks into the diner where they’d arranged to meet and breathes out a long, slow breath. She looks beautiful sitting there, yellow dress and flame colored hair against her pale skin. The sunlight filters in through the window and makes the highlights of her hair shine. She looks like home and his chest hurts to think that he has to leave her.

“I got my draft letter.”

      He almost kicks himself. First damn words out of his mouth? Can’t even kiss her hello before you tell her Nickerson?

     Nancy doesn’t cry, or if she does, she doesn’t do it in front of him. That’s Nancy for you.  He’s gonna marry that girl, if Nam don’t kill him.

* * *

     She does cry as he’s walking towards the plane, he looks back and sees her bury her face in Bess Marvin’s shoulder as the cousins sandwich her between them. Carson Drew and his parents stand beside her, his mother holding her handkerchief to her eyes.

     For one panicked moment, Ned wonders if he’ll ever see them again, or if he’s headed for the same ending Buck had.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They say “war is hell” and they don’t lie.

They say “war is hell” and they don’t lie. It’s hot and humid, and the Viet Kong ain’t the only things out here trying to kill him. Hell, the platoon a few yards over got ripped up by their own air support, and Billy almost died from a snake bite a week ago. Dude’s still shaky, but he’s been cleared to fight so he’s back on the frontlines.

     Nancy’s letters are an oasis for the soul, he even shares some of her sleuthing escapades with his unit. Good news is a precious commodity, and sharing is caring. It lifts his spirits, and the guys’ as well, to know that back home, everything is still right.

     9 months in, a new name shows up in her letters. Frank Hardy and his brother are some punks who get up to the same kind of mischief Nancy does. At first she seems frustrated by their constant interference, but as time goes by, her tone becomes more and more fond of them and Frank’s name shows up far more than is comfortable. His pals start teasing him about some punk kid stealing his girl while he’s stuck grappling his way through the jungle in the armpit of the world.

     Ned tries not to let it bother him. It’s good for Nancy to have someone there. Besides, the longer he’s here, the less likely it is that he’s ever gonna live to see home again.

* * *

     Ned’s fellow sergeant gets newspaper clippings from his dad, and some of the articles are concerning. Ned knew that a lot of people were angry about the war, he’d seen the protests first hand at Emerson and had been in high school when the Kent State shootings were all over the news. Still, the stories he sees in the papers make him wonder if everything’s just getting worse. He asks Nancy in one of his letters.

     “You know everyone is angry, Ned.” She says, “Don’t worry about it. Just stay alive and come home.”

* * *

     By some goddamn miracle, he does come home. He steps off of the plane onto the tarmac and breathes in good old River Heights air. He honestly wasn’t expecting a welcoming party, he hadn’t told anyone he was coming home, but there standing in the airport by the luggage carousel is Carson Drew.

     “Mr. Drew.” Ned says, stretching out his hand.

     “Welcome home, son.”

     “How’d you know I was coming home?” Ned asked, eyeing the older man as he reached to take one of the bags. “I didn’t even tell my parents.”  

     Carson smiled, “Your lieutenant is an old friend of mine. He’s been keeping me informed on where you are, what you’ve been doing. He told me he thought you were planning on surprising everyone. I figured I’d come give you a ride.”

* * *

     Ned’s mother cries, stroking his hair as he buries his face in her shoulder. His father is silent, but he hugs him tight and Ned almost feels like he’s small and innocent again. Like he isn’t blood soaked to his very soul. He places his things in his room, walks back down the stairs and looks Carson in the eye. “Where is she today?”

     “Nancy had class this morning, but she’s got a case with the Hardy boys and she was planning to go check out a lead at the harbor afterwards. They should just be getting there right about now.”

* * *

     Ned had imagined what his reunion with Nancy would be like from the moment that it’d actually sunk in that he was actually going to make it home. He’d never imagined this.

     He arrives at the docks and Nancy and some punk kid are being cornered by two large, burly assholes in muscle shirts. He watches for a moment as the kid puts himself between the men and Nancy, almost instinctually. He has an intense feeling of deja-vu, a flashback to when that was him standing there, ready to punch the lights out of anyone who’d dare to lay a hand on Nancy. There’s a heavy board laying on the ground beside him. He picks it up and moves quick to knock out the larger of the two with a heavy blow before switching fully into marine mode to take out the other one.

    When the dust settles, Ned turns away from the two unconscious bodies on the ground and looks into Nancy’s pale face. Her blue eyes are wide and she’s got a hand over her mouth.  Ned has never felt so raw, so violent, so dangerous. He suddenly feels… this is a bad idea.

     A cough sounds to his left and he turns to see the punk step forward. “Thanks pal.” The younger man says, stretching out his hand. Ned takes it almost reflexively. “Really appreciate you stepping in there, we – “

    “Ned.”

     Nancy breathes his name as if it’s a prayer and suddenly her arms are wrapped around his neck and he’s drowning in the vanilla scent of her hair.

     He’s finally home.


End file.
